Hollywood Casino in Joliet to break ground on new site at I-55/ I-80 site

Penn Entertainment will hold a groundbreaking Wednesday for its future Hollywood Casino site in Joliet.

The company on Thursday announced that it will break ground for the $185 million project at the Rock Run Collection site being developed at the crossing of Interstates 55 and 80.

Rock Run Collection is planned as a multi-use development that will include entertainment, residences, retail, restaurants and other development at the 309-acre site.

Penn National on Thursday said the Joliet project is a land-based casino that will be an anchor tenant for Rock Run Collection.

Cullinan Properties, the East Peoria-based company that is developing Rock Run Collection, has announced two other projects planned for the site.

One would be a Regal Cinema movie theater, which was announced in 2019 but for which construction has not started.

The other is a plan for 570 apartments on the site.

The development also has included warehouse development on its east end.

Hollywood Casino is located off Route 6 along the Des Plaines River. The site originally was developed by a local business group as the Empress Casino, which opened in 1992 at a time that Illinois required that casinos be tied to riverboat operations.

The state since has changed gambling regulations to allow land-based casinos.